


A New Start

by Aceofstars16



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Alchemy, Friendship, I don't know what to tag this as, Memory Loss, Other, Season 3 Spoilers, because it's varian, rapunzel is like his big sis fight me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-20 20:08:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21062459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aceofstars16/pseuds/Aceofstars16
Summary: The King and Queen’s memories aren’t coming back, so Rapunzel turns to Varian for help.





	A New Start

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr post](https://aceofstars16.tumblr.com/post/188396764053/a-new-start)

Trees, rocks, a river. The landscape blurred by as the carriage rumbled along, bouncing Varian with each rock and ditch it encountered, but he barely noticed. Casting a glance at the materials he had brought, the events of yesterday played through his head.

He had been sitting outside, trying to work in the fresh air to give himself a new perspective. Though he may also have been avoiding his old lab, partly because of the mess but mainly because of the memories that he would rather not dwell on. It had been a fairly normal day, all things considering. Then Rapunzel had shown up, asking for his help. Apparently, the King and Queen’s memories weren’t coming back and no one knew why. So, Rapunzel had come to him. _Him_. Varian, the kid who only a few weeks prior, had been one of Corona’s enemies – disliked and distrusted. Not that he could blame them.

So, of course he had to help and he _wanted_ to help, but he couldn’t ignore the worry that had been growing ever since Rapunzel had come to him. And it only grew stronger as his destination neared - the winter retreat. The King and Queen had been moved there after the whole Saporia fiasco to keep them safe until their memories were restored. Which Varian was supposed to fix…somehow, despite not knowing anything about magic. In fact, he was pretty sure he knew less about it than a lot of other people. It was more…confusing than alchemy, and that was saying something seeing as alchemy didn’t always make sense or react in the way he expected. Especially Quirinian, which he hadn’t gotten right before. But now it was his only hope. _If_ he could figure out how to reverse engineer it that is. Well, really, reverse what it was supposed to be. After all, blowing things up wasn’t exactly going to help anyone right now. As if it ever really helped anyone in any circumstance.

Shaking his head, Varian tried to push the thought away, and the guilt along with it. Dwelling on it wouldn’t help anyone, and if he was honest things had actually been good, all things considering. He was making a few new friends, and Corona didn’t seem to hate him anymore - at least not from what he had seen. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was a fragile peace, that he would mess up and they would turn on him again.

A quiet chittering sounded, effectively pulling Varian out of his thoughts. He quickly looked around, only to see a familiar head poking out from under the seat.

“Ruddiger!” Scooping up his pet, Varian frowned at him. “You were supposed to stay home!”

Ruddiger squirmed out of his grip and chirped again as he climbed onto Varian’s shoulders.

A small smile grew on his face, and Varian sighed. “Yeah…okay…I guess I could use the company.”

The familiarity of the fur on his neck was a comfort. Ruddiger was his most loyal friend. Despite everything – including turning him into a huge monster to distract everyone from kidnapping the queen - the raccoon had always stuck by his side. Even in prison he had been there, though he had always hidden whenever Andrew was around. _‘Should’ve paid attention to that sooner_’, Varian thought as he absently scratched Ruddiger’s chin.

“You think we can figure this out?”

A purr like sound was the only answer he got, but it brought another smile to his face. “Yeah, I know…we’ll try our best, right?” Now to hope that his best wouldn’t blow up in his face like last time…He quickly shook his head. No, it would be different this time, no one would end up stuck in amber - he would make sure of it.

* * *

_Bang!_

“…ow…”

Groaning, Varian slowly righted himself and pulled off his goggles, blinking away the light from the explosion before glaring at the formula that had just blow up in his face. Again.

It seemed like no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t figure out how to get the Quirinium to work. No matter what he did, it just blew up, as if there was no way to actually get it to erase memories. And if he couldn’t get it to do that, then there would be no way to reverse the effect and help the King and Queen.

_Knock, knock, knock._

A quiet tapping sounded at the door and Varian barely held back a groan. “Come in.”

One of the guards poked his head into the room. “Just, making sure you’re…okay…”

Rubbing a hand over a sore spot on his head, Varian sighed. “Ah, yeah, I’m fine just…slow progress.” He gestured to the makeshift lab and the smoking liquid.

“Oh.”

Just that one reaction made the weight in his chest grow. He _had_ to get this together, he _had_ to succeed. After all, he was the reason the King and Queen had forgotten everything in the first place. “I’ll get it soon, I’m sure of it.”

“O-okay, yeah…uh…well…” The guard gave an awkward thumbs up and ducked out of the room.

“Great,” he muttered to himself. Ever since he had arrived out here, Varian had felt like a villain again, though he supposed he deserved that much. After all, these people hadn’t really seen much of his attempts to be a better person, to help out and try to make up for all of his mistakes. But there was one way to show them that he had changed, or that he was trying to.

Taking a steadying breath, Varian looked at the steaming beaker, narrowed his eyes, and stood up. With a quick swipe, he cleaned off his goggles before placing them back over his eyes.

“Time for batch number 12.”

* * *

“WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?!?”

Slamming his hand against the wall, Varian winced at the pain that raced down his arm. Everything hurt. His arms, his legs, his chest, even his brain. He had tried everything he could think of to fix the formula, but nothing was working.

Chattering sounded from the floor and a second later little feet were pawing at his pants. With a sigh, Varian leaned against the wall, before sliding down to the floor. A second later, Ruddiger had crawled into his lap and Varian absently petted him as he stared at the opposite wall.

“Why can’t I get this?”

Ruddiger tilted his head and pawed at Varian’s shirt before curling up into a ball, his tail wrapping around Varian’s hand as he did so.

“This is my chance to really make it up to the King and Queen, to actually do something…and I just _can’t_!” Resting his head against the wall, Varian tried to fight away the tears that were slowly growing in his eyes, but he wasn’t very successful.

“Varian?”

Quickly wiping at his eyes, Varian turned his head towards the door and saw Rapunzel standing in the entrance. Swallowing down the lump in his throat, he tried to keep his voice from cracking as he spoke. “Rapunzel? What are you-? I mean uh, I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Well, the Captain thought having me here might help spark my parent’s memories, so I came for a few days while Eugene keeps an eye on Corona.” She seemed a little absent as she spoke, as if she wasn’t fully focused on what she was saying. And as she explained the situation, she slowly made her way into the room before sitting down on the floor next to him. She was silent and Varian cast a quick glance at her, only to see that she was looking around at the room - his broken flasks, the explosion marks on the wall, and all the other signs of his failure. His gaze fell as it all hit him again, he couldn’t bear to look at her anymore, not when he had failed her.

“How many times has it blown up?” Rapunzel scratched Ruddiger’s chin, and Varian knew she was looking at him, but he didn’t look up.

“Thirty-four…though, not all of them blew up.” He gestured to the table, which had holes in it from when the solution had burned through the table.

“Oh…”

Varian was dimly aware of her readjusting herself so she was sitting closer to him, resting her back against the wall. He could practically feel the disappointment radiating off of her, which only expanded the guilt in his chest.

“I’m sorry…” he croaked out, hugging his legs to his chest as he tried to quell tears once again. “You trusted me and I…I failed…I-” His voice cracked and he quickly shut his mouth again, but not before a quiet sob escaped.

“Varian…” A hand rested on his shoulder. “I…it’s not your fault. No one knows what to do, and you’ve tried your best.” She pulled him into a quiet side hug. “And for that I’m grateful, and I still trust you.”

Sorrow and guilt pressed down on him, but a spark of relief grew in his chest at her words. “Y-you do?” It seemed too good to be true, he definitely didn’t deserve it, but when he looked up at her, she smiled and nodded.

“Of course.”

A small smile played on his mouth, but then he saw the table and all of his failed formulas and it fell again. “I still wish I could’ve helped more.”

“You’ve helped plenty, I’m grateful for all you have done, and I’m sure my parents are too. Maybe I’m just remembering the cure wrong, after all it was Cass who-” Rapunzel’s voice broke and she looked away for a moment.

Just hearing the name of his old friend sent a wave of sadness through Varian. He didn’t know everything that had happened, but he knew Cass hadn’t come back and that in some way, she had betrayed Rapunzel. Just like he had.

For a moment, they just sat there, but slowly the sorrow eased and Varian started processing Rapunzel’s words. “Wait…cure?”

Rapunzel blinked a few times, as if clearing away her own thoughts, and nodded. “Yeah, it’s what got me to remember when Cass…when I forgot, but for some reason-”

“I hadn’t even-!” Varian jumped to his feet, his mind starting to whirl as formulas and equations started coming to mind. “Do you have the ingredients?”

“Yeah, but, why?”

“I think I’ve been going about this all wrong! I’ve been focusing on Quirinian, when I should’ve been starting at the other end, with the antidote. If I can modify it…”

Rapunzel straightened up, barely suppressed hope blooming on her face. “Do you think you can get it to work?”

Varian glanced at the table before looking back at Rapunzel and shrugging, a small smile growing on his face. “Only one way to find out.”

* * *

Varian hardly dared to breathe as the servant handed the King and Queen the tea. Tea that had his latest formula in it. And one that had been tested to make sure there would be no ill effects. But no one knew if it would actually bring memories back or not, and there was only one way to find out.

A hand gripped his and he squeezed back just as hard. Rapunzel stood next to him, waiting to see if their collaboration had worked. Although Varian had done most of the work, she had helped get the ingredients and had kept him company in the lab. So, it had been a two-person project, or a group effort if they included Ruddiger.

“Huh, a strange tasting tea, is this new?” The king asked, frowning at the cup before taking another sip.

“Uh, well…”

The clattering of porcelain on the floor interrupted Varian’s response.

“What…where…?” The King looked around, blinking in confusion for a few moments. Then he spotted Rapunzel. “Rapunzel, sweetheart, what’s going on? Why aren’t we at the castle?”

Rapunzel’s hand slid out of Varian’s grip and she took a step forward. “Dad…you, you remember?”

“Remember what? I don’t remember traveling h-oof” His words were cut off as Rapunzel rammed into him, hugging him tight.

“You remember!”

Happiness grew in Varian’s chest as he watched, the interaction reminding him of when he had hugged his dad again for the first time in a year. A smile grew on his face, and all of the stress of earlier seemed to melt away. “It worked…”

Rapunzel hugged her mom just as tight as he dad, and Varian was content just to listen as questions were asked, and hesitant answers were given.

“-but then Varian-”

“Varian?” The King interrupted Rapunzel and for the first time, he seemed to register that Varian was even there. And when he spotted him, his gaze turned cold.

Fear gripped Varian’s heart and he took a step back, the joy of a few minutes ago had vanished into thin air. “Your Majesty, I-I can explain, I-”

“You will do no such thing! How dare you even _look_ at my family after what you did!”

Each word was like a hammer to his heart, pushing him further and further down. He winced at the sharpness and anger in the King’s voice, and out of instinct, he took a few more steps back. Not that he could really run – guards were everywhere, but he no longer felt safe. And in reality, he really wasn’t. The King didn’t know all that had happened, and even if he did…he might not be as forgiving as Rapunzel…and really, who could blame him…

“Dad, wait!”

“No, he-”

“I know what he did!” Rapunzel stepped forward, putting herself in front of her father, and in doing so shielding Varian from the wrath of the King. “But he’s changed. He helped me save Corona, and he helped you get your memory back.”

The King frowned at Rapunzel, then looked at Varian, his gaze turning to steal one again. “But he-”

“Fred.” The Queen rested a hand on his shoulder, and he looked at her. “Let’s hear him out.” She looked at Varian, but instead of anger, there was sympathy. After all he had done to her, she didn’t seem mad at him. How…?

With a frown, the king looked at Rapunzel, and then at Varian. “Alright, let’s hear it.”

* * *

Letting out a breath, Varian sat down on the steps of the building, letting his shoulders droop. “Glad that’s over with,” he muttered to himself.

Telling the King his story, and what he had and hadn’t done had been…hard to say the least. But after a lot of discussion and support from Rapunzel, he had been granted a pardon, though Varian was pretty sure the King still hadn’t really forgiven him. Not in the same way Rapunzel had at least. Though the Queen had been quite supportive, which he was surprised but grateful for.

A door opened from somewhere above him and he looked up to see Rapunzel walking out. When she spotted him, she smiled and he returned the gesture as she sat down.

“Sorry about my dad, he can be…”

“Stubborn?” A small laugh escaped his mouth. “Join the club. Though…I don’t blame your dad. I did…mess up. A lot.”

Rapunzel sighed. “Haven’t we all?” She rested a hand on his shoulder. “But don’t worry, he just needs time. I mean, Eugene was an infamous thief and now him and my dad actually get along, for the most part at least. It’ll be okay, I promise.”

_‘I promise.’_ Varian remembered when that phrase had hurt him, and it still brought up old memories, but in the end, she _had_ kept her promise. And she hadn’t given up on him. She had given him a second chance, and he wasn’t going to let that go to waste. “Thanks, Rapunzel.”

“Thank you. Without you, my parents still wouldn’t remember who I am.”

“Anytime.”

They exchanged a smile and then watched at the sun slowly set over the mountains. So, maybe things weren’t perfect, but then again, things never really had been perfect before. But at least now he had a second chance, and a friend who believed in him - even when he didn’t believe in himself. And that wasn’t a bad place to be. In fact, it was a pretty good way to start a new and better chapter of his life.

**Author's Note:**

> So...it's been forever since I've actually finished a fic??? And this is my first ever Tangled fic but...I had this idea after seeing Rapunzel's Return and I really wanted to give it a go. I don't know if it will fit into canon as episodes come out, but I hope y'all enjoy it?


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